ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Florida House Rep. Cyndi Stevenson called the plans proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis' Office and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to build hotels, pickleball courts and golf courses in nine state parks as "wildly inappropriate."
Stevenson thought the plan to build a 350-bedroom hotel inside Anastasia State Park was a hoax, "until I saw it on your news station and in other news outlets," she said.
Anastasia State Park is in Stevenson's district.
"I don’t know who came up with the idea. But I really don’t think it was the DEP," Stevenson told First Coast News.
First Coast News reached out to various locally elected state officials such as Rep. Paul Renner and Sen. Travis Hutson. Hutson’s office called us back to say he is against the idea of developing state parks.
Hutson, Stevenson and a list of other locally elected officials, will hold a press conference Wednesday. They are all oppose the state’s project called the "Great Outdoors Initiative."
Even elected officials from other Northeast Florida cities such as Jacksonville Councilman Rory Diamond will be there.
Stevenson told First Coast News the plan to build inside these nine state parks involves an amendment to each parks’ plans, and that usually starts at the local level. However, that’s not what happened here.
"It appears this came from the top down," Stevenson said.
First Coast News will attend the Wednesday press conference and will provide updates.